Time On
by Revell
Summary: Apollo has been harboring a bit of interest toward his boss, and despite his efforts to conceal it, Kristoph has noticed; much to Apollo's confusion, instead of addressing it directly, Kristoph decides to have a little fun with him. Kristoph/Apollo


"Ah, Mr. Justice. I trust you're doing well this morning?"

Apollo startled, and though Kristoph offered no comment on the matter, he promptly tried to pretend that he hadn't just leapt half a mile. He began busying himself with straightening the paperwork that he had nearly knocked over, mentally slapping himself as he did so.

"Um, yes, Mr. Gavin! I'm fine...just...fine..."

"You were looking right at me and somehow I still startled you...you might want to cut back on the caffeine."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir..." Apollo disappeared quickly underneath the desk; he had heard something fall less than a second before, and he wanted to cover his embarrassment as best he could besides. One frantic, fruitless search later he ended up sitting back on his heels, muttering to himself and toying with the front of his hair idly.

"Were you looking for this?"

Wide-eyed, Apollo staggered to his feet, narrowly avoiding a collision between his shoulder and the underside of the desk and brushing invisible dust off of his pants. The pen Apollo had been searching for was in Kristoph's hand; Kristoph arched an eyebrow as though awaiting an answer, his index finger tapping against the cap in a slow, measured manner.

"Oh...yes, that's mine."

Kristoph smiled slightly and held his hand out, pinning the pen between his index and middle finger. "Take it, then. And in the future, do be more mindful of your belongings, hm?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Gavin." Apollo attempted to take the pen from him while making as little contact as possible; his eyes widened as Kristoph pushed the pen firmly into his hand.

"Now, are you going to have that done for me by this afternoon, or am I going to be finishing it myself?" Kristoph's eyes flicked down pointedly at Apollo's desk from behind the lenses of his glasses; Apollo followed his gaze toward the paperwork that he had been attempting to straighten a few moments before, feeling slight heat rising in his face.

"Don't worry, sir; I'll have it done."

"Good. I assume it was your work, then, that was rendering you so lost in thought?" Despite the subject matter, Kristoph didn't seem displeased; he looked amused, if nothing else. "I wouldn't want to think that I was paying you to work and find out later that I've been paying you to daydream."

"Oh...you're not! I'll finish it right away."

"Don't let me distract you, then." Kristoph smiled at him again, not offering anything else past a quick "Carry on" before turning and moving across the room, disappearing behind doors inlaid with smoky glass situated near the corner of the open office space, leading toward his own, more private working quarters. Apollo could see his outline through the panes as he sat down behind his desk, leaning over it as though writing.

_He has no idea._ Apollo shook his head slightly and got back to work, rearranging the paperwork into its proper order again before trying to remember exactly what he was doing with it.

_At least, I'm _hoping_ he still has no idea._

_

* * *

  
_

Apollo approached the doors to Kristoph's office about an hour later, trying to balance several files in the crook of one arm without disturbing them as he knocked with the other.

"Come in."

Apollo opened the door slowly, peering inside and catching sight of Kristoph bent over the desk, balancing ledgers. He hesitated, suddenly unsure of whether he should enter or not regardless of the invitation that he had been given. "Are you busy, sir?"

"Always." Kristoph looked up at him, the usual soft smile gracing his features. "Did you finish that assignment I gave you?"

Apollo returned the smile, nodding as he did so, and stepped into the office. "Where did you want me to put...?" He glanced around, shifting his arm as the files started slipping out of his grasp, trying to resettle them.

He was too busy trying to catch the files to hear Kristoph move, but Apollo was suddenly very aware of his mentor's hand on his arm as he took some of the paperwork from him. "Honestly, Justice, don't try to do everything at once. Do it if you can, of course, but don't sacrifice efficiency; it leaves a bad impression on any clients you might acquire."

"Yes, Mr. Gavin." Apollo could still feel the tension traveling between Kristoph's fingers and his arm, even after it was gone; he looked down at the ground, trying not to get carried up in it, and after a moment he was mostly successful in ignoring it.

"At least it was just in front of me this time...and don't look so downtrodden when I give you advice. You're here to improve, aren't you?"

"I-I'm not downtrodden!" Apollo felt his face flush slightly, though he snapped his gaze back toward his mentor. "I appreciate your advice; really, I do. I...just don't know what to say to it half the time."

"You have a long way to go yet. Don't concern yourself too much." Kristoph finally moved away, setting the files he had taken down on the desk as he seated himself again; he began to flip through one of them, his expression not giving away very many of his thoughts. "You're going to work yourself into an early grave if you don't learn to relax a bit, Justice."

"Ah...sorry, sir."

A slight, noncommittal noise came from the back of Kristoph's throat as he continued to read. "You can put the rest over there," he said, gesturing idly toward the files he had already set down; Apollo approached the desk and set the ones he still had down with the rest. "Thank you for bringing that in here."

"It's no problem, sir."

"Do me a favor and make some tea?"

"Yes, Mr. Gavin."

"There are a few things I would like to discuss with you when you return with it, so please do it quickly." Kristoph glanced at him; while his expression was enough to let Apollo know that he wasn't in trouble, it didn't tell him anything regarding what the topic would actually be.

Apollo swallowed hard. "Of course, Mr. Gavin." He left the office quickly; the entire time he was making the tea, he was cursing the fact that Kristoph tended to like it steeped for such a long period of time.

* * *

Kristoph had apparently finished checking the files by the time Apollo returned with the tea; Apollo knew he was visibly relieved when he was able to set the cups down on Kristoph's desk, and he immediately felt stupid for it, but Kristoph had made it plain more than once that he wanted his tea practically scalding and Apollo wasn't fond of handling the cups for any longer than he had to.

Kristoph seemed amused at Apollo's actions, but he didn't comment. "Are you sure you have enough for yourself, Mr. Justice?"

"Yes, thank you." He hesitated. "There was something you wanted to discuss...?"

"Have a seat."

Apollo settled himself on the chair apprehensively; though he would never tell Kristoph this, he had come to dread the beginning of these talks in his office. Not that there was anything wrong with talking to his boss from time to time, and he was under the impression that at the very least Kristoph didn't dislike him; it was that for some reason, the beginnings of these talks were a constant source of flashbacks to the middle school principal's office - sitting across the office in a chair that seemed strategically placed to be somehow more isolating than anything else in the world, and even if you didn't do anything _wrong_ and the person behind the desk simply wanted to congratulate you for a job well done, there was the feeling that something world-ending could be said at any moment.

The odd suspicion that Kristoph would probably find it _amusing_ if Apollo ever told him that didn't really help, nor did the fact that Apollo spent most of his time in here trying not to stare at him. He had been doing better at suppressing most of his thoughts, for the sake of professionalism, but the fact that Kristoph Gavin was an attractive individual hadn't exactly been lost on him, nor had the power he seemed to have in the courtroom - and that was in addition to somehow _not_ being generally terrifying and inapproachable.

He focused his attention on Kristoph's hands rather than his face, waiting for the tea to cool enough for him to want to handle the cup.

Kristoph seemed to be having no problems with his; he picked up the tea and drank some of it before he started speaking. "The first matter of business is the case I've accepted recently."

Apollo looked up at him; he could feel himself sit up a bit straighter, though he tried not to look too eager.

Kristoph smiled, setting the cup down lightly. "Don't get too excited, Mr. Justice; I'm merely asking you to accompany me. I still don't think fielding you is a good idea yet."

"That's...that's fine, Mr. Gavin," Apollo said, trying not to let his disappointment show; he kept his posture straight and his eyes attentive. "What sort of case is it?"

"Homicide," Kristoph said, his voice taking on a bit of a sardonic tone. "When is it ever _not_ homicide anymore?"

"And the client...?"

"What do you think?"

Apollo considered for a moment. "As far as we're concerned, they're innocent...but there's no way to really know until the truth comes out in court?"

"Very good." Kristoph's expression bordered on approval before quickly shifting back into seriousness. "Now, the other matter I wanted to discuss involves your recent behavior."

"My...behavior, sir?" Apollo shifted uncomfortably. Kristoph's eyes suddenly seemed sharp enough to pierce him straight through; Apollo began wishing that he would look away for a moment, or at the very least visibly _blink_.

"You've been immensely distracted lately, Justice. Has something been troubling you lately?"

"Um, no..." Apollo shifted slightly again.

"Nothing at all?"

"No, sir." He tried to look as convincing as possible, trying to ignore the thoughts of _Please blink. Please. Just blink_ that were screaming through his head.

"You've been on another planet entirely lately; there's been something else demanding your attention, and it's clearly far more appealing than concentrating on your work. Is there something you need to tell me?"

Apollo's eyes widened; Kristoph finally broke eye contact then, his gaze darting down to the desk momentarily as he seemed to smirk slightly to himself. Apollo seemed to become aware of what his own face was doing, and he fixed his expression before responding. "I-I'm sorry for my distraction, Mr. Gavin; I'll try to work on it."

"Forgive my tone; it's not exactly a reprimand. More like curiosity. A little distraction isn't unforgivable, just so unlike you when you're working." Kristoph looked at him again; if he _had_ been smirking before, there were no traces of it lingering in his expression. "After all, I'm not completely innocent, either, when it comes to letting one's mind wander. Might I ask what the issue has been for you?"

Apollo stared at him for a moment before swallowing hard and answering. _You're reading into things a bit too much, there, Justice._ "I appreciate your concern, Mr. Gavin, but everything's fine."

"Indeed."

"I...what?"

Kristoph arched an eyebrow. "I'm merely agreeing that everything is fine, Mr. Justice."

"Right." Apollo shifted again, glancing at the desk in front of him. He picked up his tea, sipping some of it and focusing all his attention on the level of liquid still in the cup.

"That's all for now, Justice, though if we're anywhere near being on the same plane, I would imagine that you want to..."

Apollo's gaze snapped back to Kristoph when the end of the sentence didn't happen; Kristoph had begun looking through the lower drawers of his desk for something, holding a case file out to Apollo upon finding it. "I'm assuming you want to be able to do at least some research before our court date? Of course, this is operating on the second assumption that you'll be capable of concentrating...but I'm sure you'll be able to work out whatever issue has been troubling you lately. Right?"

Apollo set the tea back on the desk. "Right, sir...um, about that issue..."

Kristoph arched an eyebrow at him before reopening the ledger on top of the desk and studying it again. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if, um."

"If _what_, Justice?" he said, glancing at him for a second before looking downward again.

"If you ever...well, what sort of things do you consider to be appropriate in terms of ethics?"

"Ethics?" Kristoph was definitely looking at him now - not just a glance this time. "What sort of ethics?"

"Ethics regarding the workplace?"

The pause that ensued was the longest two seconds of Apollo's life.

"Justice, are you daring to accuse me of some sort - "

_Ack._ "No! No, of course not, Mr. Gavin...I'm not accusing you of anything!"

"Then why in the world do you bring up ethics?"

"Because I was wondering what your stance is on, um, coworkers?"

"Coworkers...?" As much as Apollo had been wanting Kristoph to blink earlier, he found himself suddenly wishing he would _stop_ doing so now.

"What sort of relations you'd be willing to have...with coworkers..."

"In what manner are we talking, Justice? If we're not on the same page..."

"We...probably are..."

Kristoph's left eyebrow quirked slightly again. "Are you coming on to me?"

"We seem to be all over the same page, sir." Suddenly, even though Apollo tended to find the whole face-matching-vest cliché completely overdone, he was sure that if he had a mirror he would see why it was said at times like this - because not only was it easy, it was probably _true_.

Kristoph fell silent for a moment, seeming to mull this whole thing over. "And how long have you been contemplating this behind my back?"

"I...I wasn't meaning to imply that I was thinking about you behind your back, I just - "

"But you were, apparently?"

"I...yes, Mr. Gavin."

"And now you're asking me to act on these thoughts of yours?"

"Um..."

Kristoph stood up, placing his hands on the desk and leaning over it slightly. "You realize that I am still your mentor, correct? And things of this nature would be highly improper, if not completely unacceptable, under most circumstances?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Gavin..." Apollo squirmed slightly. His discomfort wasn't helped any when Kristoph stepped around the desk, and confusion was added to it when he realized that he was moving to stand behind the chair Apollo was sitting in.

"And yet you brought it up anyway." His hand shifted forward onto Apollo's shoulder, fingertips massaging the fabric of his vest in a firm, circular motion. "You're lucky I'm so forgiving, Justice."

"I...I know I am, sir..." Apollo inhaled sharply when Kristoph's other hand found his face; his hand felt colder than he thought they would be - _And why was I thinking about that?_ - and his fingertips trailed down Apollo's cheek slowly.

"Most wouldn't forgive their pupil's attempts to approach them in that manner...you really are fortunate, Justice."

"Yes, Mr. Gavin..." Apollo drew his lower lip into his mouth as Kristoph's fingers lighted on his neck, tracing down under his collar momentarily before sliding slowly back upwards, underneath Apollo's chin, tipping Apollo's head back.

The kiss was hard and fast and over too soon for Apollo to really catch the idea of what was going on before it was over; he found himself freezing up, only relaxing when Kristoph moved away a bit, shifting to speak into his ear, low and quick.

"How many times must I tell you, Mr. Justice...? If you don't learn to relax, it's going to be the death of you." Kristoph kissed him again, on the cheek, then patted him on the shoulder lightly as he straightened.

Apollo could sense Kristoph moving back toward the desk; he reached up and grabbed his mentor's wrist. Kristoph looked down at Apollo as he twisted around in the chair to face him.

"Is there something you want to say, Mr. Justice?"

"I...I'm sorry?"

"For what? I've already told you that you're forgiven for your attempts at seduction."

Apollo thought for a moment. "And if I were to make another attempt...would you still forgive me?"

He couldn't deny that it was definitely a smirk that crossed Kristoph's features this time. "No - however, I _would_ have to give you quite the reward for your perseverance."


End file.
